Anabel Fayhart
Anabel - Ana, for short - is the leader of Interpol's Ultra Beast Task Force, and is also treated as a high-ranking official within the larger scope of the organization as a whole. Prior to mid-2006, she was the Tower Tycoon of the Hoenn Region's Battle Frontier, a position she assumed on her 11th birthday. What she is perhaps most famous for, however, is her bizarre disappearance during the summer of 2006. While on a trip to Kanto for purposes unknown, she vanished, ''without a trace ''- only to reappear several months later on a foreign Region's beach halfway across the ocean, with few memories left beyond her own name; an event which had, at the time, caused a tabloid media sensation. She has a kind-hearted personality with a calm and (mostly) professional demeanor, and a keen interest in bettering the lives of her fellow beings through her actions - whether they come from this plane of reality or not. She possesses the same gift of "heart-talking" as that of the mercenary Trainer code-named Acceptance; more specifically, she is a Feeler-dominant Empath, able to look into the souls of pokémon - and to a much more limited extent, those of Ultra Beasts, as well - and allow them to feel hers in turn, allowing for a sort of emotion-based communication that has no need for words. However, where humans and other non-pokémon beings are concerned, she can only connect in this fashion with other Empaths; this is not typical of Feelers, and it is surmised by those knowledgable on her dominant type's usual attributes that her ability to link to non-pokémon must have been locked away somewhere in the depths of her soul (as to how, when ''or ''why ''this could have happened, no one has any answers, least of all Anabel herself). Her Empath abilities, complimenting her passion for caring for others, have caused her to develop a keen interest in psychology and the inner workings of people's feelings, observational skills she made frequent use of during her investigations for Interpol. Ana is a firm believer in the power of the Bonds that can form between pokémon and humans, and also those that can arise between ''any two individuals of shared hearts, regardless of their species. To this end, she remains ardently devoted to an unknown individual from her past that she calls 'Heart', and she rebuffs any and all suitors who attempt to woo her with romantic affections. Ana feels no connection towards the prior period in her life when she worked for the Battle Frontier, on account of her inability to remember any of it. While she prefers not to be recognized for these past accomplishments - it feels deceptive to accept the praise and take the credit for the actions of someone she has no recollection of having ever been, and who may well have been a very different person than the Ana that she is now - she will treat those who do recognize who she is (...or rather, who she was) in a polite and gracious fashion, accepting their compliments with a kindly smile. Secretly, Ana also believes in fairies - and with good reason - but she's quite careful who she admits this to. Once Upon a Dream: A Life Lived - and Lost The following is reconstructed from records, transcripts and other documents that serve as a record of Anabel's life, and, as such, are sparse on more intimate details, such as her moods and personal feelings. Likewise, there are gaps for which no public records exist. While most associated with Hoenn, on account of the time she spent in the service of that Region's Battle Frontier, Anabel is actually from Kanto ''- Saffron City, to be specific. In both her traditional classes and in Trainer School, she was considered to be a particularly gifted student, and was nurtured as such by her teachers; rather than perparing her for the traditional Trainer's Journey undertaken by most ten-year-olds, she was instead groomed towards a life as a Gym Leader, with the full expectation that she would one day take up that mantle in Saffron. On April 1st, 1996 - by League rules, the first of April following one's tenth birthday is the earliest date that a person can apply for their Trainer's License - Anabel was certified to legally own and train pokémon by the staff at one of Saffron's Pokémon Centers, and, via videophone, she selected her Starter from Professor Oak's lab (the pokéball was delivered promply via PC transfer). But rather than setting out to challenge Gyms with her new Partner, she was immediately placed ''within ''Saffron's Gym, as one of the pre-Leader Trainers that challengers had to face before earning the right to Battle Sabrina herself. Her first pokémon, an eevee, evolved quickly into an espeon under her care ('too quickly', in the words of her Gym transcript), and she gained a reputation with that year's crop of Trainers as being particualrly challenging to defeat, sending many hopefuls packing before they even could catch whiff of Sabrina. During this period, Anabel's official Trainer Class designation was ''Psychic, ''and she dressed the part; at least one photo from the era still exists that depicts her with her fellow pre-Leader Gym Trainers, clad in the same gold-trimmed sky-blue jumpsuit as the others. While Sabrina herself was a Manipulator-dominant Psychic-Sensitive, who possessed a significant level of natural-born talent, her Gym Trainers, for the most part, were not Sensitive in the least. They were able to perform only those standard low-level Psychic party tricks that even those with zero innate aptitude could potentially teach themselves to do with enough work and effort, such as levitating pokéballs an inch off their palm, or bending spoons on command. Because Anabel herself no longer has the capability to answer this question, it is not known at what age it was that the quiet Trainer realized her own special ability - if she'd been pushed into her position already aware that she wasn't like the other Trainers around her, or if it had been something that unveiled itself gradually over the course of her Saffron career. Additionally, given that she was in a Psychic Gym and under the employ of a Psychic Gym Leader, and labelled with the Psychic Trainer Class, it is likely at first that she would have assumed herself ''Psychic, rather than the Empath she actually is, although this is merely conjecture. The only thing that can be stated with some certainity in regard to these questions is that Ana's powers must have manifested several months into her Gym tenure at the absolute latest, as this is when her transcript truly changes in its tone. "It is with disappointment and regret that I must report, based on recent phone calls, that young Anabel seems to be developing a most troubling attitude towards her pokémon, as well as towards her fellow Trainers. After consultation with my colleagues, I have advised Saffron's Centers to handle any future communications with delicacy - listen, reassure her that all will be well in time, but do not humour her baseless claims, nor give any validation of this behaviour. It would be a tragedy, to herself and to us all, to allow her terrific potential and talent to be so squandered before it can ever have a chance to bloom, and we thus have a dutiful responsibility to ensure that she is guided forwards correctly. I have spoken to Sabrina and have faith that she can correct Anabel's distressing course, and, should she abandon this nonsense and begin to thrive as I ardently believe she can, she would have my full support both as a future Gym Leader here in Saffron, and, later down the road, a spot on Kanto's Elite Four itself. Anabel's potential to enrich Indigo - and the whole of the League itself - is immesurable, as I am sure I do not have to elaborate for you; I much doubt that we will see a Trainer her equal within the next decade. If you cannot be moved to act for her own sake, please continue to monitor the situation for the sake of her potential value. You will not regain easily what you will lose, should Anabel continue to court trouble." ''- Portion of a letter, dated to August of 1996 and addressed to an unknown Indigo League official, from Anabel's former headteacher at Upper Saffron Trainer's Academy; it is one of several parts of Anabel's League dossier recovered from the Resolve Island servers Listen With Your Heart: Who Ana Is, and Her Life Philosophy (To be revised) Anabel is of an average height for a young woman, standing at 5' 5" tall, and possessed of an elegant, slender build. In her earliest years running the Battle Tower, it was common for her challengers to mistake her for a ''male, ''on account of her short hair, boyish build, and preference for more masculine dress - a mistake that grew far less frequent as she aged, and as her reputation spread. After her reappearance on Poni Island in the Alola region, she started allowing her hair to grow out in a more feminine style, as part of her efforts to find an identity that could feel as if it belonged to her - but her taste for men's clothes remained, refined into the signature black suits she regularly wears. Her lavender hair and soft eyes - traits that led to her being labelled "the Lilac Lady" by the Alola press - compliment her sense of grace, granting her a beauty that has earned her much attention from an assortment of hopeful suitors over the years (which are, of course, universally turned aside). Her expressions are often understated, as suits her personality as a calm and caring listener - her smiles are small, soft, and gentle but no less impactful; her eyes (and her heart) light up, however, when she finds herself particularly enjoying a conversation! When she ''does ''break form, however - usually when confronted with actions she finds to be of such undebatable abhorrence that there is no way to ever justify them, such as child abuse or cold-blooded murder - she won't hold back on stating ''exactly how she feels about it. A romantic in the purest sense of the word - it is for this reason that she believe in fairies, Bonds, true love and happily ever afters - Ana is prone to holding a rosy-lensed (and oftentimes, downright naïve) view of the world; wanting to trust in the inherent goodness of people's hearts, and that, in the end, such good will always end up prevailing over evil. As an officer with the International Police, she is all too aware that unspeakably horrific things can and do happen, and while on the job she tries her best to divorce her personal feelings from the tasks required of her, but this worldview that almost everyone has a core of goodness and can be redeemed could easily cause her to be manipulated into placing her trust in individuals that she shouldn't, unconsciously choosing to ignore the very red flags that she'd trained herself to notice. This romanticism also leads Anabel to being a bit of a daydreamer, indulging in her longings and her fantasies in an internal, personal manner (as a Feeler, to explore her wordless emotions in this sort of elaborate and vivid fashion feels immensely satisfying to her). She contemplates many different emotions and wishes during her quiet moments at her campsite, but love is a common theme; Ana imagining the elusive Heart under many different guises, as she is unable to remember their true appearance and mannerisms. Childish behavior for someone of her station, perhaps, more befitting a teenage girl, but such flights of fancy are a deep comfort to her soul. Ana tends to speak in a very polite fashion - avoiding slang and coarse words (unless she is very, very, '''very '''disgusted with you), and giving those she interacts with her absolute respect, unless it becomes obvious even to her optimistic heart that she should relinquish their right to such. Despite growing up in Kanto and spending her adolescence in Hoenn, she has, for the most part, lost her Kantonian and Hoenner speaking mannerisms - it only slips back into her voice during passionate moments. Her everyday voice is an Americanized one, albeit with the sight swaying lilt of Alolan natives, which is what she considers herself to be. She doesn't carry many possessions with her in Firelight, beyond what is necessary for her job and her comfort while spending, potentially, ''months ''in the forest - a smartphone, several changes of clothes (which are laundered once a week at the Dearbelle Pokémon Center); food, toiletries, and other essential supplies, which she replenishes every week at the Mini Mart; a tent, a waterproof tarp, a set of collapsible camping cookware, and lighters and firestarting liquid for setting up campfires - and last but not least, a large traveller's rucksack to hold all of this in. The only non-practical item she regularly carries on her person battered old Nokia 1101, which is, by far, her most precious possession. This old brick of a cellphone, which had been with her when she was discovered on Poni Island's shore, is Ana's only direct tie to her past, and to the person she used to be - and is also the only concrete proof she has as to the existence of Heart, a person she knows simply by the <3 emoticon she gave them in its address book. Someday, My Prince Will Come: The Vigil of a Devoted Heart No matter how your heart is grieving, If you keep on believing, The dream that you wish will come true... (To be continued~) Category:Characters Category:Natives Category:Humans